2009 Skoda Superb V6 FSI, 1.8 TSI And 2.0 TDI First Drive Review

Equipment and Features

There is a six-stacker CD, high quality audio (inexplicably branded ‘sound system’ on the front door speaker enclosures… it’s such a relief to be informed) and multi-function steering wheel.

The equipment list, even for the lower-specced Ambition models is impressive. It comes with driver, passenger and airbags, driver’s knee airbag, and all the usual acronyms (ABS, ESC, EBD) but also with hill-hold control.

Tyre-pressure monitoring, rear parking sensors, heated seats, lit footwells, dual-zone air-con and pollen filters add premium practicality and feel to the accommodation.

2009-skoda-superb-headlight

The Bi-Xenon headlights with dynamic angle control (tilting up at higher speeds) and with cornering function, are clever and useful features. So too is the optional solar-cell sun-roof, which automatically ventilates the interior on hot days, lowering interior temperatures by as much as 25 degrees when in the sun.

Whether in standard kit, or optioned, the Superb provides exceptional value in the context of its target market – particularly against its Euro-badged competitors.

Mechanical Package

We spent most time in the V6 and diesel, with just a short run in the 1.8 TSI. Putting the potent V6 to side for one moment, what is apparent, and still messes with the head a little, is what the Volkswagen group is achieving from smaller, efficient engines.

The Superb is quite a large car, but for the feel underfoot and against the stop-watch, the 1.8 petrol-engined TSI is not at all shamed.

With 118 kW and a creditable 250 Nm of torque (from 1,500-4,500rpm), those 1.8 turbo-driven litres and seven-speed DSG transmission, push the Superb TSI to a top speed of 220km/h and dispatch the 0-100km/h sprint in just 8.5 seconds.

The barnstormer of the range is the 3.6-litre V6 FSI with 191kW of power and maximum torque of 350Nm (available between 2,500rpm and 5,000rpm).

2009-skoda-superb-engine-002

With permanent all-wheel-drive and six-speed DSG, the FSI storms to 100km/h in 6.5 seconds and on to a top speed of 250km/h.

The fourth-gen Haldex clutch monitors traction electronically – under normal driving, the drive is directed to the front axles. Then, depending upon the traction conditions and what is being asked at the accelerator, the power distribution switches to the rear wheels or shared front to rear.

Our favorite though was the 2.0 TDI diesel. It feels immensely strong especially in that mid-speed overtaking band, makes a nice ‘rounded’ hum when working (from inside the car), and delivers quite amazing fuel economy.

With common-rail direct injection, it delivers 125kW and – matching the V6 FSI - 350Nm of torque from 1,750rpm to 2,500 rpm.

Mated to the six-speed DSG, the diesel TDI is capable of 220 km/h top speed and 0-100km/h in 8.8 seconds. It delivers on these numbers while also returning a combined fuel consumption figure of a planet-friendly (and wallet-friendly) 6.9 l/100km.

The Drive

The drive, for each engine variant, is quite surprisingly composed, refined, and, in the case of the smaller-engined variants, quite surprisingly willing: the Superb is, after all, quite a large car.

For my money, at $45,990 plus on-road charges, the diesel is the pick. With those 350Nm on tap, and a willingness to rev freely, it provides more than ample urge with a miserly thirst. (Don’t you just love modern diesels?).

Front-wheel-drive only, as opposed to the all-wheel drive of the V6 FSI, the diesel TDI is slightly less-connected and less ‘nailed’ to the tarmac as the FSI, but few would notice, and fewer would care.

2009-skoda-superb-alloy-wheel

Pushing through the hills north of Sydney showed the inherently superior chassis balance of the FSI over the front-drive diesel, but there was little opportunity to stretch things out.

For ‘real world driving’, there is just margins between the front-drive TDI and the AWD V6.

The suspension, Euro-style, leans a little to the firm, but even over some broken secondary bitumen, there was an absence of jarring and pitching. It is a conventional set-up with struts up front and three transverse links at the rear.

In all, the impression of the drive is that things below seem very well-sorted – the Superb is considerably sharper at the wheel than its dimensions and conservative lines would suggest.

2009-skoda-superb-front-001

A longer test drive, and some exploring of the dynamic capabilities of each of the models will tell the story, but the preliminary call puts the diesel a nose ahead as the real value-for-money offering, with few noticeable compromises against the considerably more expensive $56,990 V6 FSI.

For all models, wind, mechanical and road noise is very low. Combined with the premium appointments, the sound isolation enhances the limo-like interior ambience.

The Verdict

So, is the Superb ‘superb’? That’s a hard call. It is certainly a very competent, very well-kitted and satisfying drive.

It also has the style, practicality and refined interior appointments to give the segment a real shake.

So, yes, on the basis of this first drive review, Skoda has every reason to be confident it has the right car for the segment, with the right fuel efficiency for the times. Best of all, it is very sharply priced and offers real value as a package, right across the range.

If Skoda can get the word out, the Superb will win a lot of friends.

Škoda Superb Pricing

  • Superb Ambition 1.8 TSI 118kW DSG - $42,990*
  • Superb Ambition 2.0 TDI 125kW DSG - $45,990*
  • Superb Elegance 1.8 TSI 118kW DSG - $45,990*
  • Superb Elegance 2.0 TDI 125kW DSG - $48,990*
  • Superb Elegance 4×4 V6 3.6 FSI 191kW DSG - $56,990*

* Plus on-road statutory and dealer-delivery charges.

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A family machine for our age. A step up for those who labour under the falcodore.

if Skoda want to sell cars they need to get a lot more dealers out there. people can’t be expected to travel many klms to purchase a car and then travel many klms again for service. i have been told they have a good product but if they haven’t got the dealers they will not get the sales. you don’t have to be a brain to figure that out . looks a nice car Skoda

My father once made a mistake and bought a “SKODA” .it was the biggest heap of cat excrement ever made .He was not the only person who thought that either . Skoda have a huge hurdle to overcome. They will have to be extremely lucky to over come there past reputation.

Looks like it was made from left-overs out of a range of other manufacturers part bins.

Well saying someone bought a Skoda x amount of years ago is like saying no one would buy a Hyundai….. Today - and well hey, how many people have purchased them, and how much better (not my opionion) have they gotten since then? Though I’d never buy a Hun-die anyday! In the flesh the Supurb is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship! You have to feel, touch and see this car! Unlucky, in Perth they just closed down the only Skoda dealership in the state! Closest is in Adelaide! Haha but they be opening one in a few months again…..

Matt J
A Skoda dealership will open up on the 1st of July in Melville, Perth.

Vernom
Yes, I read that in a forum… so it’s good news but too far away from the first one! =P

I never even heard about Skoda until I sat in one in a taxi overseas - it was a 2.0L DSG Octavia. That got me excited :)
Anyways, it’s sad there’s no V6 FSI Superb in New Zealand. Almost depressing because its practically kills the passat CC’s design :/

A pity that the diesel isn’t been brought in the 4×4 dsg or manual versions.

are you listening—Skoda— more dealers

The “Twin door style boot design [which Skoda have patented] is a really cool feature -If only it was on a much more attractive much more popular car like a Passat or a Audi A4 etc.. only a matter of time I guess

Just a short message for “Required”.

Your father must be well into his 60’s like I am. In 1969 I bought a Skoda 1100MB deLuxe when I got back from Vietnam. I bought it because it had, of all things, a cassette player as standard equipment. It was economical to run and could fit four surfboards on the roof with no problems.
While it wasn’t the greatest car in the world, it was very cheap and was good for me. Provided you changed the oil and filters and serviced it regularly it was pretty good for its time.

I had it for 6 years and traded it on new Holden and got $300 less than I paid for it!

Having had such fond memories, I just test drove a new Supurb, and we have decided to buy one, a Diesel Auto. My wife, who I met when I had the Skoda 1100MB, suggested we look at the Supurb as we had so much fun in that old rear engined 1100, forty years ago, and the Supurb will do us until we pass on.

We are trading in a Toyota Camry Altese, which has been a “monster” since we bought it brand new in 2006.

I agree that a few more dealers will help Skoda, but given time a they will get a small but happy share of the Australian car market.

We hope we enjoy our new “cat ex” as much as we did with the old one.

I bought a Skoda Scout 2 months ago for business purposes. I am averaging just 5.7l per 100K’s on the Highway.Fantastic car to drive, quie and well equiped. At stage I am one very satisfied Skoda owner.

We test drove a new Superb Elegance on Thursday and the dealer offered to loan us the use a demonstrator car for the weekend.
We did a 350 kilometre round trip to the country, spent the weekened away and loved the way the car drives, handles and feels.
To buy another Skoda, after owning that old 1100MB, 40 years ago, is just amazing!
Needless to say they are a “superb” motor vehicle and as a consequence we will now get the best deal we can on a new one.

Great News!
I am now pleased to report that we have ordered our new Skoda Superb Elegance 2.0 TDI in Light Silver from our dealer.
We traded in our disasterous Toyota Camry Altise and in about 2 weeks we take delivery of the new car.

Ordered my Superb ‘Elegance’ on July 28. Told there was a 12 week delivery delay!! So much for economic slowdown!! Visit the dealer every few days to check his floor stock and this is my fifth new car…..like a virgin bride at the moment!!

Oh, no picture of the rear interior? I just realized!

I have to agree with Trevor on the delivery aspect. I was originally told that they had a Superb Elegance 2.0 TDI in Light Silver available in two weeks, but now we have to wait another 5 weeks.

I was worried that they would devalue my Camry at the time of pick up, so we have since given the Camry to our Skoda dealer and they have given us the use of a demonstrator Octavia, which is great.

Still I am not worried about it and will simply patiently wait.

For Matt J the rear legroom is more than ample for big Aussie blokes, and very luxurious.

Ron J - I have already sat inside the Supurb in Europe and had seen so many on the road.

I’ve experienced the amount of space that is in the rear section of the car, and how the boot works. Immaculate!

Good one Ron! I gave my dealer my Subaru Liberty as a trade cause I thought that if I held back til delivery, they would peel a grand off me. Didn’t think to prise a loan car out of them - using my wife’s clapped out Honda. You can be my negotiator next time

Paul, your quoted economy is brilliant! Twice what I get out of my medium 4WD diesel auto (which admittedly spends a lot of time at 110km/hr). I’ve not seen too many Skodas in the flesh, living as I do in the bush, but from what I’ve seen online they are most impressive. Styling rather staid (odd, in the case of the otherwise brilliant Roomster) and fewer engine/gearbox choices than overseas countries. I’m eagerly awaiting the Yeti, hoping of course that it will have 4wd/auto by the time it’s released here. I especially liike the availability of beige (well, partially beige) interiors on most Skodas as I have a deep loathing for grey/black ones (my current 4WD has all black, the wife’s is beige/brown, huge difference in internal temps in summer) especially as they offer beige cloth which virtually no one else does.

If I don’t go Yeti when current lease expires, I may look at Octavia wagon (has anyone noted the tiny difference in liftback and wagon luggage space in Octavia catalogue? Very odd) . I want to drive both petrol and diesel and look at servicing costs. The 98 octane I need for wife’s car is 21 cents/litre dearer than diesel locally, but mid-2008 diesel hit $2.10/litre and petrol of all types was cheaper. The Superb (who cares what they call it? Even Commodore is a wanky name when you think about what a naval “Commodore” is) is superb but out of my price range.

My order for a Skoda Superb has “blown out” already to late October/ early November production with no delivery date - this is after a July 28 order where the local dealer asked for $3k and I gave him my $27k trade!!. How in God’s name can this company get a toehold in Australia with such performance. My local dealer called Skoda Australia and was told the national (state?) sales manager was ‘unavailable’ for a few days. My local newspaper delivery guy could teach them a thing or two about marketing. Be wary of Skoda!!!!!!

Trevor,
It’s not unusual for there to be supply difficulties with a new model (and even for established ones). While ended up getting a different brand 4WD on lease, I originally wanted a diesel Sorento, but the release date kept getting pushed back (in the end I settled for the other make late June, the Sorento finally made it to dealer’s floors late August!). I couldn’t wait because I had no other car at the time (at least, one that was available for me to use). Similarly with a Ford Ranger (not then a new model) I had a dozen different supply dates, but essentially I ordered around Apr/May and it didn’t arrive until November!

There are sometimes difficulties with popular models for the Australian market- the makers have trouble sorting out ADR requirements- after all, they have to make cars specially for Oz. This was the issue with the Sorento.

Regarding Octavia luggage capacity in a previous post: I finally worked out that the figures in litres quoted for liftback and wagon are up the the base of the rear window, hence the tiny difference, all the extra volume in a wagon is above the window line ( and why wagons with a near-vertical back window work better than ones with a sloped window).

Skoda are on the edge, if they do not introduce more dealers and soon they will condemn themselves to the 0.1 and 0.2 % market share that product like Citreon enjoy. There are 4 dealers in Melbourne and all are in odd hard to get to places, this is poor imagery for potential clients, it put me off as i felt if they had no real belief in their own brand then why should i. Perception is everything and they need to realise this soon or perish

Trevor Y,

Your situation is case in point, why am i hearing that almost all sales for the new Superb are forward orders from the factory. If Skoda had a true belief in their product sales they would have had adequate supply.

As i said, if they do not have a belief in it should we???

I’ve been told that due to the high order level of Superb’s that a large shipment of orders is due in late September. This was confirmed at my seller dealership by the Skoda Australia Manager , who happened to be there at the day I visited.

My selling dealer has swapped my Octavia loan vehicle for another Skoda loan vehicle, so all I can say is that they are doing the best that they can.

I agree with Mike about forward orders from all manufacturers. They do take time particularly when you order your vehicle virtually custom made in your colour with your options.

Hopefully my new Skoda Superb Elegance 2.0 TDI in Light Silver will arrive and be ready for delivery during early October.

Both my dealer and Skoda have been in constant contact with me and I am still a happy patient customer. They have treated me with courtesy and the utmost of respect.

As Ron has pointed out, his has many options. If the car you want doesn’t have the options you want, it has to be ordered, and this takes time. This would be even more the case with Skoda as they have a long options list. The Japanese makers these days have no options- for Subaru there isn’t even metallic/pearl paint as their white is a pearl only. You just walk in and buy the model you want in the transmission and colour and that’s it. If the dealer doesn’t have the colour you either take an alternative or wait.

I like the Skoda way, at least you have a personalised car and the options are a reasonable price. Xenon headlights come on the top spec Subarus only, and if you want leather you have to have a sunroof. Stupid.

I think the Skoda Supurb should have no options! Just kit it with everything! Just how the Lexus LX570 SUV is…. there are no options as it has every option already as standard. Now that would kick the Caprice’s in the butt! But then again you’d like an automobile that you can customize to the luxury heart’s desire!

Skoda must have options available- for a start they have two different interior colours instead of the usual grey/black only of most other makers. It seems the beige interior is available with every external colour, too, which is a bonus- and Skoda has a Superb range of colours :) unlike the boring offerings from most other makers (including stablemate VW). Why not have Xenon headlights or (god forbid) a sunroof available on bottom-spec models? Better to pay $2000 for HIDs on a $32,000 car than get them only on the top-spec $50,000+ model elsewhere. If you load up a car with fruit like parking sensors (which I don’t personally need as I rarely need to reverse park) and leather (which I also don’t like much- too hot and slippery) the vehicle becomes too expensive so I’d look elsewhere. Xenons are a great option for me as I live in the outback (and from reviews I’ve read, Skoda halogen lights are nothing to brag about).

Having said all this, I think the Elegance level of Superb is a great buy compared to the Ambience, where Xenons alone bring the cost to close to Elegance level.

@ Mike - I hear yah! Take it all back haha Options….! Love the fact beige leather comes with all colors! Now… if only the vRS had beige leather with the Blue exterior! =D

I ordered about $10K of options with my Superb, including GPS, solar sunroof and leather. Of those, I only think the GPS should be standard, as the difference is barely noticeable on the dash. I am 9 weeks in for my waiting time, but am still driving my trade and didn’t need a deposit. So all the expense of delays is on the dealer (except that I have to relicense my trade in another week). It still doesn’t stop me anxiously chomping at the bit.

I went with a friend a few months back to order a Passat CC, there are more options on that than the A8. We still managed to find a vehicle for delivery within 3 weeks with the features he wanted in the colours he wanted. We were told by the dealer that there were several cars they could source and just picked the one due for melbourne port. Ron J you yourself are a product of blind faith.
Skoda work on the same web based system as VW. The VW dealership was able to show us when the car had been ordered when and where it was built and what ship it was on and when it was due to land in Australia. Your dealer just lied to you to get you into the order, they were well aware of when it was due to arrive. This is not 1990, i can get on my iphone and track my fed-ex package to illinois, do you really believe they are that clueless as to when a vehicle is going to arrive? 2 weeks, maybe 4 months??
Ron, don’t let them treat you like a fool, I also love the Skoda product and i truly believe you have absolutely made the right choice but don’t let them feel as a manufacturer and dealer that letting people wait months on end is acceptable.
The last thing any of us want is Skoda to exit the country with a bunch of odd coloured oddly spec’d Octavia’s, Roomster and Superbs but it may not be to far from reality at this rate

Timothy, what exactly is “an oddly coloured” Octavia (no apostrophe required in a plural btw, even if it does end in a vowel)? To me part of the attraction of Skoda generally and Octavia in particular is that they actually have a choice of colours! I happen to like green, who else offers a choice of two shades? BMW offer at least FIVE types of black, how useful is that, the worst colour ever imagined for a car. I’m heartily sick of looking at so-called colour choices online where those ”choices” consist of 3-5 shades of silver (BORING!!!!) and black and white. Plus maybe a blue which is almost black anyway and a red/burgundy which may or may not look good on that car- of course when I go to the dealer’s to have look at one in the flesh they have white and 55 shades of silver, no red ones in stock.

Skoda ROCKS because they offer a) decent colour choices and b) something different to the universal and boring black/dark grey interiors that manufacturers foist on us. Whether dealers actually order the more interesting colours is another matter entirely- most of the “new, in stock” Octavias on the web are, you guessed it, silver.

Mike thank you for the grammar lesson but you don’t have to poke holes in my ability to exhibit any basic grasp of the english language as my education is, as you guessed it, somewhat basic. As for the “odd colour’ comment i was referring to the pale blue and the bright yellow cars from 2007 they still have lying about registered gathering dust that no one wants. You can take it from me that in 2011 there will be a whole heap of light green, burgundy and light blue octavia’s floating about that no one wants as well as cloth trim superbs. They have failed to realise that being querkyin a sub premium brand is not an attractant here in OZ. You yourself would be hard pressed to say with a straight face that you would pay $40k+ Bright Blue or Yellow car, you must admit that??!!

Apologies for the dig, I have a thing about wayward apostophes. I personally like the bright blue, and would happily own a car in Skoda’s versions of the colour. As for the yellow cars, it’s an RS colour only, not for the ordinary Octavia. I guess Skoda, along with some other manufacturers, think it’s a hot colour for a hot (sort of) hatch. The yellow cars stand out, but have you seen how many silver ones are waiting to be sold?

I agree Mike, they are probably jumping both ends of the scale and erking us both with the decisions. To much lairy stuff and then a whole lot of plain boring stuff to offset it. Hopefully they will find that happy medium soon. And i should apologize for some of my comments, i just get frustrated when i see so much potential in something and yet some of the basic common sense processes are not followed. I’m sure there is someone getting paid some serious dollars to miss the mark and it doesn’t have to be that way. You will all be happy to know that they have made me eat my words, Skoda have just opened a new dealer in Mentone Melbourne, this is right in the heart of the dealership strip and a great demographic. It is the first serious attempt at jumping into the psyche of the general public and will be a gold mine for the crew running. A really really positive move!!!

Young Timothy, well well well, haven’t you made a goose of yourself.
You quoted: “Ron J you yourself are a product of blind faith.” and other silly childish comments.

My new Skoda Superb Elegance 2.0 TDI in Light Silver arrived at the dealership, intact with no damage today, with all the factory extras that I ordered.

Yes, Timothy, it is SILVER, a very nice light silver, which is what my wife and I wanted. We ordered OUR car in OUR colour with OUR options. We happen to like Silver and that is OUR choice, not YOUR choice, hence the wait for the vehicle to be built.

All I can say about Skoda Australia and my Skoda Dealer is that have bent over backwards in helping us get out new vehicle. They lent me two demo Octavia cars, (and included a demo Superb for a long weekend) honoured the original deal, and it will be ready to pick up on Saturday morning.

Like most young blokes, Timothy, you need to learn a little word called “patience”.

Tell me Timothy, are you a Skoda owner? or have you ordered a new Skoda? or do you work for an opposition dealer / importer? or, as my wife says, “Is this just a smart ass kid who likes to play on the internet?”

I’ll let you know how our new Skoda goes, but we expect no dramas.

Ron J, good to hear you got the new car and all is well but please don’t make this such a personal posting. The ‘product of blind faith’ comment was out of line, agreed but don’t make assumptions about me, my age, what my preference in cars are etc based on some brief postings. I will however review whether i am in fact in a position to uphold the apparent high standards set out in the ownership of a Skoda. I have had my poor grammar examined and told by yourself that i am a child. I am 37 and have 2 children so i rally need to assess what image i am portraying when posting comments in future.

And just for your own knowledge, no i do own a skoda and if (and only) i can afford to i will trade my wife’s car in (she has a golf) and buy the new RS wagon. That’s where the patience comes in, we don’t finance so if we can’t afford to pay for it then we wait until we can and then buy it. I know however when i do i will be asking for order numbers build times ad ETA’s to be on the order. It’s never going to be 100% accurate but it’s pretty good give or take 2-3 weeks.

I’m glad you finally got your new car and i sincerely hope you have many safe happy years driving and enjoying it. You made the right choice and nothing i post here is going to have any real relevance in the end.

All the best

I agree Timothy. This is a useful site as long as we continue to play the ball and not the man. I like the constructive matters concerning my car of choice (Skoda Superb Elegance) that is the one I am patiently awaiting.

yes, Timothy. I agree I may have been a little harsh in my reply, so for that I apologise. However when one spends that amount of money on a new vehicle, one gets a little concerned when you read some skeptic saying that Skoda is considering pulling out of Australia.

At our age this may well be our last new car.

When I bought my Skoda 1100MB deLuxe in 1969 many of my mates scoffed at the car, then they realised they is was cheap, and did the job quite well, and ran on the smell of an oily rag. In those days a radio with a cassette player as standard equipment was a big deal.
I had seen them on the streets of Saigon and Vung Tau in my army conscipt days ( that’s another story) and as well as the Renault 750 and R10 they were used often as taxis. I even saw a few very rare 1100MB or 110 Panel Van versions and I wondered how the air got into the cool the engine. I was told they were later replaced by the Octavia Wagon of the late 1960’s. The 1100MB Sedan in Vietnam was a cheaper version to the similar Renault R10. One of those would 1100 Vans have perfect for a young surfer of those days.
When Skoda left Australia that time in the 70s you could still get parts for servicing.

When I pick up the new Superb, I’ll let you all know how it goes.

Well tomorrow will be the 2nd week anniversary that we have owned our new Superb.

The experience of owning such a roomy vehicle is forever a pleasant surprise. Even though we had a loan Superb once for a long weekend, we didn’t realise that back seat room was so good.

Skoda is a marque that is not well known by many motorists in Australia, but all I can say that it is the best new vehicle that we have owned.

We traditionally trade our vehicle every three or four years and it will have to be a Skoda in 2012.

What a car!

Congratulations, Ron. I’ve been away on holidays and saw my first Superb, only Ambient grade but still most impressive. Also got my first drive in a Skoda! Took a 1.8T liftback for an hour, most impressed. That was in Hobart (thanks to Anton at Euro Cars).The DSG was an eye-opener. Also has a drive in a Renault Koleos back in Perth, and the relevance of that is that the Koleos has a very short options list- essentially, for the Privilege grade it’s Xenon headlights and sunroof. Trouble is, very few cars are coming in with Xenons (Perth Renault hadn’t seen one, and their Koleosses are walking out the door) so it’s a special order, 3 months wait. Presumably, ditto the sunroof. So Ron’s wait for the options/colour OF HIS CHOICE is not unusual.

I think the wait was wwell worth it. The salesman will give you a date to get the order. It wouldn’t matter if you were buying a Skoda, a Honda, a Ford, a Holden or any new car, the salesman has to get the order.
I found the Sales Manager up front and great to deal with.

I’m surprised that Trevor Y hasn’t got his new Superb by now, as he ordered his before I ordered mine and mine was a custom build.

Back to the car, we took it away to the country on the weekend and we couldn’t be any happier with the choice of Skoda. On the freeways that ecomonic diesel just purrs along and it has some get up and go. Because the car is so quiet you need to set the cruise control otherwise you are doing 130kph and don’t even realise.
Great car!

Ron J:: After nagging my salesman on a regular basis he eventually found someone in Skoda who wasn’t on holidays and discovered my car is on a vessel currently steaming down the West coast of Africa heading for East London (in S.A.) and then Perth, Melbourne and Port Kembla on 09 November. Guess two weeks after that it should be getting close to me. That will be 19 weeks! I was becoming increasingly worried that I would end up with a 2009 manufacture date with a 2010 delivery!!

Trevor Y. My car has an Australian comformity plate showing 09/09 and a build date from Skoda showing 08/09,so they seem to get them out and on the boats and delivered very quickly.
We ordered our car late July.

I had no trouble contacting Skoda, so it might be an idea to chase them a little more. Once would assume that your car will arrive in very early November for November delivery.

You’ll just love it when you get it, they are a pleasure to drive and hardly seems to use fuel.

Good luck

Just like to point out that the diesel isn’t a common-rail unit, as mentioned in the review. It’s unit injector tech, or ‘Pumpe Deuse’. That’s why the noise.

That’s not correct Charles. It is a Common-rail direct injection diesel. You can check with Skoda if you don’t believe us. :-)

Charles, I own a Superb Elegance 2.0 TDI .
What Noise??? It purrs like a kitten!

A question for Ron J. –As my Skoda gets closer to our shores, I was wondering what the ‘run-in’ recommendation is for the 2.0 diesel. I live in a coastal town and two kms from my garage door I’m on the Pacific Highway immediately hemmed in by B-Doubles. Difficult to mope along too long. The old regime of driving at 80kms is very difficult in my circumstances

Hello Trevor -

Nice to hear that your Skoda is getting closer. The recommended running in of the car is basically set at 90 -110 kph as it is with most new cars.
After the first service check the car should be right to drive as you wish without any fear of problems.

Charles - on 12th October I posted this comment below:

On the freeways that ecomonic diesel just purrs along and it has some get up and go. Because the car is so quiet you need to set the cruise control otherwise you are doing 130kph and don’t even realise.

What Noise?? Again I reiterate there is no noise!

Does anyone have experience with the solar sun-roof? Is it really effective?

I have the Superb 1.8 Elegance fully optioned.
Regarding the solar roof.
It is fantastic, at first dissapointed because you cannot open the underside and view the stars. Something which I was told it would do. However as a sun roof it opens and it does keep the car moderatley cool. My Job entails going out to sites at a drop of a pin so I just get in and drive.

Well worth it

Forgot to mention my new born also appreciates it.

Forgot to mention my new born child also appreciates it.

John L - no, we didn’t get that option or a sunroof as I have a very bald head these days.
Dpicc - I had to pick up my grandkids the other day and drive them from the country to our place which is about 90 minutes drive. After 30 minutes they were both sound asleep in a very quiet, very comfortable vehicle.

That would be me too in the back…..

Snoooooooreeee….. =)

I’m interested in the wagon when it comes out.
I’ve never actually bought a new car before.
How much discount off list price is achievable these days?
AUD has been on the rise of late.

Swuzz, there’s not a lot of opportunity for discounts on new models of cars with fairly small gross sales (in my experience) unless you wait for the release of the NEXT model and then swoop!. The best thing to do is negotiate hard on delivery & option costs. I saved a few bucks there!!

Thanks Trev. A mate in industry suggested same this morning.
At least Superb has a wide range of options so might be scope to get some goddies “thrown in”.
Now just as I’m getting keen on the Supurb wagon my neighbour goes and buys an Octavia wagon so I’ll be looking at a Skoda most times I go in & out of home!

for Swuzz - If you are in the position to be able to buy a new car, you will get a better deal without a trade.

On a Superb, depending on the model, you can usually get around $3,000 to $4,00 off very easily by shopping between dealers. This is money off the LIST price.

Then you negotiate at least $1,000 to $15,00 off the dealer delivery, which is a scam used by dealers to put extra gross back into the sale.

Even though I had a trade-in I still had them take it early and I negotiated the dealer delivery well down and other accessories.

Currently I know that there are several Superb models in dealer’s stock that you can buy off the floor. I had my Superb Elegance in for service yesterday and I had a friend with me. He was offered the choice of 6 or 7 different combinations that he could have had within 2 to 5 days.

I patiently waited for mine as I wanted a specific engine, colour, trim and other factory options.

Good luck and just buy one if it’s within your budget

It’s by far the best car I have ever owned.

Ron - Thanks for that interesting info.

I saw Skoda ad in the Drive paper on the weekend listing some ex-demo models.

I might pop down to look as one was the colour I’d like to see in flesh (Rosso Brunello).

But I’ll wait for “Combi” wagon before buying.

FYI Interesting/active forum I came across: http://briskoda.net/superb-ii/

You certainly need lots of patience Ron J: my car arrived on a ship into Port Kembla on 09 Nov (that was my internet discovery - not dealer advice). Skoda told the dealer (following my nagging) that they would require seven days for bits and pieces (compliance plate etc). After seven days (and no car), I was onto my dealer again who then told me Skoda were ‘waiting for a truck’ to deliver the car. I live on the mid north coast of NSW and the dealer is on the Pacific H’way - not really outback. I don’t think Skoda are at all serious about marketing in this country. Or alternatively, they are trying to squeeze the dealer out!! I’ve just passed the 16 week point since ordering!! Happy days!

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